Hi,
Well, I decided to have a go at Wensleydale again. The make went ok, though the temperature got away on me once or twice during the cooking phase (up to 34 or 35 C when it should have been more around 30 or 32). Also, the multiple series of millings was interrupted, and I only milled it abuot 4 times rather than 6-8 times. Notwithstanding those issues, the make went pretty well I think. The final knit is still a bit incomplete, but better than the first time I made this. Last time I included sage flavouring, but this time I left that out. I can add herbs when cooking, but I can't remove them.
Anyway, here are my make notes a photo of the cheese out of the press.
Wensleydale (Sun. Aug 7, 2011) start time 8:56 (below 18, cloudy)
10 L home brand standard.
1 ice cube mesophillic (Flora Danica)
½ tsp 30% CaCl
0.6 ml rennet
1) Warm milk 30C (time: 9:15 actual temp 30.0 when starter added, but rose to 31.0)
2) Add mesophillic starter, and ½ tsp Calcium Chloride strir 1 minute
3) Cover, wait 45 minutes (start time 9:15 – 10:00 (at 9:36 temp had risen to 35!)
4) Add rennet (0.6 ml) (time: 10:00; temp: 33.2 C)
5) Floc time (11:30 and 3x floc, gives cut time after 34:30 min or at 10:34)
6) Cut into 1.3 cm cubes (roughly) (time: )
7) wait 5 minutes (start wait 10:40 - 10:45).
8) Stir for 10 minutes (start: 10:45-10:55 )
9) rest for 15 minutes (start: 10:55 – 11:10: temp 30.5 C)
10) Raise temp to 32 and hold for 2 hours (starting at 11:18 – 1 :20).
11) Drain whey through cheese cloth into colindar (temp: 34.0 c).
12) Break up curds every 15 min for 2 hours. (start time: 1:30-3:20)
13) 3:20 break for the last time, add 4 tsp salt
14) Mix and put into cloth lined cheese mold.
15) Press in the pot (water @ 50C) with 10 kg for 45 min (start time: 3:30),
16) remove from mold, redress, flip, and press in pot with 10 kg for 30 min. (4:15)
17) Remove, flip, redress and press at air temp at 20 kg for 12 hours. (Start press 4:45 pm finish: 6:00 am)
After pressing weighed in at 1292g. Knit not perfect. Can see edges of the curds, but better than the first time.
Air dry for 2-5 days. Put in the cheese cave. Can be waxed for longer aging.
Edit: noticed a few errors in the notes. Nothing major, except I had the pressing weight at 50 kg rather than 20! Also, I added 4 tsp salt not 3.
Will you remind me of the flavor profile of Wensleydale? I seem to recall it being a mild cheddar with a flatter taste and an odd dryness, even though the paste was slightly sticky. Perhaps my recall is of an inferior sample.
Jeff that cheese looks pretty good. Hope it behaves it's self while aging.
Hi smilingcalico,
It's in the cheddar family of cheeses. It should be crumbly, but creamy, and melt really well. Very good with apple pie. I've only had the real stuff once, and it was very good. The "sage wensleydale" that I made a while back turned out really well in some ways (melted like a dream), but I've decided I'm not a huge fan of herbs in the cheese. It was great over potatoes, etc, but not so good just by itself. This one knitted a bit better than the first attempt, but not a perfect seal. Hoping I don't have too much problem with blue getting into the cracks. I may try and smooth them over with a warm knife this evening.
- Jeff
Hi Tea,
My slightly out-of-focus camera work does wonders for hiding the imperfections in the rind! (Works well on pictures of me too, the blurrier the better I always say! :) ) I'll try and fill in any large cracks this evening. I'm hopeful that all went well. We'll see once it ages for a few months. My parents are comming to visit late Nov or Early Dec, so that would be a good time for it.
- Jeff
P.S. I think the pressing in the pot really helped. Although the curds were not well knitted by the end of that stage, I think this helped to keep them warm, which then improved the knit when the heavier weights were added. I'll probably get a couple more 5kg weights and increase my final press amount to 30 kg rather than 20kg for these cheddar types. Until I build some sort of Dutch press, I just have to go with weights.
I decided to wax this one for longer aging. Will see how that turns out.
- Jeff
Noticed a couple of small spots of mold developing under the wax. Nothing major, but decided to cut through the wax and deal to it (shaved off the mold) and re-wax over. Sort of "key hole surgery", so the patient seems to have little discomfort and is resting well again.
- Jeff
Quote from: JeffHamm on August 07, 2011, 09:20:46 PM
My slightly out-of-focus camera work does wonders for hiding the imperfections in the rind!
Oh thank goodness, I thought I was going blind. Thanks for clearing that up. ;)
-Boofer-
It also helps that the larger cracks were on the bottom! Pictures can lie :)
- Jeff
Hi,
I waxed this earlier than usual because the knit was not that great. Figured I would head off mould. It's now roughly 5 months on, and I've been conducting "keyhole surgery" on this fairly often. I decided it was time to remove the wax to give it a good once over, and the two faces were both quite damp. Indeed, it hadn't dried enough by the time I waxed it. So, I've decided to air dry it again for a day or two, then back into the cave to develop the rind a bit, before cutting into it to see if it is ok. Poor little cheese.
- Jeff
Honestly Jeff, what did this cheese ever do to you? Cheese torturer. Just kidding. I had to do that to my last cheddar, but instead of waxing I vacuum sealed it.
I hope it turns out for you.
Looks like it has the pox! Do you have a cheese of ill repute lurking in your cave? ;)
Yes, I think my cheese is in that awkward teenage phase. I've given it a good dose of salt on one face to try and help recondition the rind. You can see the large white patch on the top where the moisture was. It's drying quite well already, and it's only been a couple hours, but I think this will need a bit of attention to get it back on track. Actually, I suspect one good salting on each face, and rubbing the brine/slurry that forms over the whole cheese, will go a long way to sorting it out. Some time air drying, then some time in the cave, and it will be ready for the table. I was only planning on taking this out to 6 months anyway, so next month was it's due date. It's still on schedule for that as I think it will only take a week or two to sort things out; despite all appearances to the contrary! Although this cheese may not win any beauty contests, I am hoping it will do well in the popularity vote.
- Jeff
Quote from: anutcanfly on January 27, 2012, 08:07:28 PM
Looks like it has the pox! Do you have a cheese of ill repute lurking in your cave? ;)
ROTFLMAO!! ;D
Jeff, be watchful the rind doesn't crack on you. I've come close to that predicament. The faces are moist but the edges are very dry.
Hey, it has a face even a mother could love. Poor cheese. In the end the taste will probably knock your socks off...
world-class. 8)
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
I'm hoping the taste will be good, as the looks are, well, not! ha! The sides are still pretty soft too, so it shouldn't crack as long as I put it through the usual air dry then cave routine. The drying process seems to have been halted too early by the waxing, which is what waxing is supposed to do of course. So, now I just have to try and wring it out and see if it's ok. I was going to make a replacement Wensleydale today, but we're going out this afternoon and the make I want to try is a long one. So, I'm going for Lancashire as that I can have completed by the time we go out.
- Jeff
Likely a good call Jeff. I found myself cheddaring for a good hour past the time it was supposed to take! I was using 200 easy recipes.
Hi anut,
Yah, I just got the Lancashire in the press before we headed out to the busker festival in the city centre. Saw 3 of them yesterday, but wanted to catch the fellow who used to be in Circ de Soleil. They were all really good, though this last one was my favorite. Speaking of which, time to go vote on line for him.
- Jeff
Hi,
Couple days air drying and it's down to 1088g. The rind is forming up a bit, and it's starting to look less plague victim like. I've moved it into the cave now to slow the moisture loss down. A couple weeks and it should be ready, unless, of course, it's already spoiled. But, it doesn't smell off, so I'm hoping it's ok.
- Jeff
P.S. This is also a better angle than the previous view. Not so much scar tissue.
I think it will be wonderful! :)
Hi,
Well, we're going to visit some friends today and we're taking some cheese with us. I'm taking some of the gouda and the washed rind butterkase. I decided that since this Wensleydale has now recovered a bit, it was time to find out if the cheese is ok or not. Having removed the wax it's now lost 98g of moisture over the past 9 days, so it probably was a bit too early to wax it. But we knew that already.
Anyway, it has a really nice cheddar flavour, and the paste is nice a smooth and creamy tasting. Vanessa noted some bitterness near the rind, but my section seemed fine. I have cut the outer rind away to eat, but I'm not sure it's necessary. Will find out later. Anyway, it's beauty (or lack thereoff) is only skin deep and inside it's a very nice cheese. It will be interesting to present three such different tasting cheeses.
- Jeff
I'm glad to hear your Wensleydale survived it's troubled youth, and better has a good flavour. Now I'm really going to be impatient to try mine! It really has been a lot of fun trying all the cheddar styles. :P
What type of milk is home brand standard? The bitterness in my T. Cheddar #20 is also mainly in the rind. I've let age 6 months now and it still persists.
Looks great Jeff, congrats!
If you were supposed to worry about a cheese's beauty, no on would eat blues so...
And the little duckling had a tough start and finished strong!
Thanks!
The flavour is the important thing as once you cut the cheese up it looks just fine. They had picked up a very nice blue, which I forgot to ask what kind it was, but it was very creamy, with an ash coating. Nice. The 13th month gouda was the biggest hit, as they really like aged gouda to begin with - which of course could have worked against me! Anyway, today I'll be taking a small slice of the Wensleydale in to work to share with my "tasters". Will see how the reports go (I've carefully selected my official tasters for their ability to find nice things to say about wet socks, so it's very good for my ego! :) )
- Jeff
Oh, Home Brand Standard is just a budget store band of homogenised/pasturised milk. It has 3.3g/100 ml of total fats.
H i Jeff,
Well I hope your tasters tell you everything you want to hear! ;)
Having noticed that my cheeses with bitterness were made with p/h store milk and none are present in my raw milk cheeses that I know of. I'm starting to suspect that the milk itself was the cause of the defect!
Quote from: JeffHamm on February 06, 2012, 05:49:26 PM
I've carefully selected my official tasters for their ability to find nice things to say about wet socks, so it's very good for my ego! :)
LOL. Hey, that's the secret!
I like your descriptive characterizations:
Quote from: JeffHamm on January 29, 2012, 06:20:00 PM
it's starting to look less plague victim like.
Not so much scar tissue.
Excellent. Congrats on bringing this survivor through.
-Boofer-
I've been lucky with this brand of milk I think. Although the curds can be quite fragile, they do firm up and I'm getting consistent results. The taste has been good, and textures seem right, etc. I've aged one cheese over a year and it seems to age well. With a couple more approaching their anniversaries I should find out soon if that's generally the case. I have had some cheeses develop a bitterness, but it's not generally been a problem. Rather, I think some wild geo was to blame.
The only cheese I've had any real difficulty in getting to work has been mozzarella, which has not produced well for me. I'll give it a try again, though, when I get a ph meter.
- Jeff
P.S. Thanks Boofer. I like to think my descriptions are Dickensish. I realize they are not, of course, but I like to think of them that way all the same. :)
I use this forum for a number of reasons. One is for the education, from first-hand, hands-on experience of the members and their successes and failures. Another reason is the social context, rubbing shoulders, as it were, with good folks from around the globe.
But the most entertaining reason is being able to read posts like yours. I look forward to being enlightened and perhaps be given a reason to smile.
Dickensish? ::) Play on....
-Boofer-
Thanks Boofer.
I think you summed up my reasons for reading this forum as well, so I can learn from the vast experience that is here, and to socialize with others from around the globe, and being able to read my own posts. ;)
- Jeff